Redhawk Caldera to pronounce apathy

When she took a wobbly step backward, he almost reached out and snatched her back. She spoke, her formerly hot voice now soft as silk. Peregrine could see that this really meant a lot to her. Well, if Magpie was actually her sister, he supposed it made sense. He tried to put himself in her shoes. What if it was Osprey? Wouldn't he bend over backward and make exceptions for her and forgive her should she make a mistake? Actually, hadn't he actually done that already, when she'd departed the plateau at the worst possible time and he'd gone on to welcome her back with open arms?

"I can see it means a lot to you, so... I'd like to give her another chance." He almost specified that she would only get one more chance, yet it would seem so petty and he was trying to be selfless here. "But we're already running at max capacity. What do we do about that? Unless... have you seen Mikael or Tempest? I'm pretty sure they ran off together. If they're gone, then... well, there's room for her."

There was something else he wanted to address, before he forgot. "Magpie is, for all intents and purposes, my sister-in-law, not one of my kids. I'll treat her that way and I'm going to ask to be treated the same. No offense but... just because she thinks of me as a father figure doesn't make me her dad. The only ones allowed to call me 'daddy' are these guys," he finished gently, nudging Fox's baby bump.